Arieon Flare

Sleep comes easily to Ashton, but to me, not so much. We have had an unsaid promise since when we were kids, that we would never hesitate to sleep. We weren't born for a crown, but being the perfect royals all the time was exhausting. But promises break, and this time I was the one to break it.

Dreams were the one place we could go to really escape our lives, if only just for a moment. And I am glad Ashton is away from the monstrous memories haunting us. My mind wanders to the day of our elder sister's funeral. Unbelievable how it was just a month ago. It was the wrong coffin. Stop, it's over. No one knows.

I take a deep breath suppressing the thoughts back to the deep hole they came from. Instead of letting my mind wander back to the hole, I strategize. The Lone Shadow was wiped from existence by my very own great grandfather. The paintings of the burning castle still dot the walls of our home in his respect. And now they are back, stronger and more powerful.

It is weird how just yesterday, all Ashton and I had to worry about was the permanent crown on our heads, but now, it's doubtful if we can even survive. Every Unscathed had expected the Shadow threat to be over decades ago, but today proves otherwise.

When the threat was ignored solely based on an assumption, they got time to regroup. A hundred years might be a little too long to plan an attack but they took down two of the most powerful people in the kingdom of Evercrest.

"You still awake?" a careful voice comes from behind me. I reach to grab one of my few hidden weapons but instead I decide not to let anyone know how well trained I am in a fight. So I look back to see who is out there in the middle of the night trying to annoy me. The same girl with the blonde hair stares back at me expectantly.

"Now I am."

"Wonderful, let's go. Follow me." she says and walks towards the door. I catch up quickly hoping to get more information about this place from her. Leona doesn't sleep with us in the barracks, so she must be someone better than us, or worse. Either way, she knows more that me and that unsettles me.

Her clothes are better than most people here. A black jacket with a pin on the left side covers barely covers the fighting gear she is wearing. The pin oddly catches my attention. The man who was with Ashton when I woke up had the same one but with one blue stripe instead of three. I notice a gun safely tucked under her belt but I can not guess if she has anymore weapons.

"How are you settling in?" she asks. I notice it in her eyes that she is suspicious so I choose my words more carefully than I normally would.

"The bed here is more convenient than at the castle if you can believe it." I chuckle. It surprises me how I can keep my voice straight while lying through my lips even after the news I got earlier. She just shrugs and smiles sweetly clearing the emotions off her face.

She leads us through some gaurds and a couple of corridors till we reach outside. Three rights and a left. I note. Trying to know the place around me always did come naturally to me. But Ashton may or may not argue that trying to know everything is my absolute nature.

She finally stops and sits down on the grass between a couple trees. The streetlights illuminate the dew drops already forming on the grass making them shine like pearls. The light never comes close to us though, it is just beyond reach.

"Are you planning to assassinate me right now?" I ask with a chuckle as I sit down beside her.

"Do I have a reason to?" She asks a smile playing on her lips.

"No." It comes off more as a question that I intend it to be. "I mean I definitely did not steal your popcorn, so probably not." I quickly add hoping to lighten the mood. She chuckles lightly but says nothing. I do not know why she called me here and the mystery is killing me.

"What's the time?" I ask hoping to fill the silence.

"Either ten in the evening or three in the morning." She replies,the smirk never leaving her face.

"Couldn't sleep?" I ask, curious to know more about the weird person sitting beside me.

"Well when you live in the shadows and die in the darkness, nights seem pretty much like home." she replies, her eyes are distant, in a world I do not know.

"Was it better before?" she asks so softly I almost don't hear her. She doesn't push it so I pretend to not hear her too. Afterall I don't think I can tell how one of the Wanderers would feel if they were they were replaced from cleaning up after a bunch of royals at a castle to having to fight a war no one knows about.

She looks comfortable in the silence though, nothing but the distant light and my unheard thoughts giving us company. But I am not. Silence means more time for my mind to wander to the darkest corners, and I can not afford that right now.

"What is the Lone Shadow all about?" I ask acting disinterested.

"I could have sworn I told you all about it at dinner." she replies looking straight at me.

"Well actually you kinda got distracted and started talking about the food instead." I point out with a smile.

"I do that a lot." she smirks, not embarrassed at all, "You would probably know the Shadow's objective is to destroy the Unscathed with all the happy faces today. We somehow took down the king and queen, with a little help of course."

"I was hoping for more of the juicy details." I wink. "Like why didn't you eliminate the whole family and just the King and Queen?"

"I didn't tell you this, but we have way less information about the heirs. We think they are staying secured at the castle to the north until they can claim their crown. But other than that, we don't even know their faces. We had details on Azela, the actual heir, but that's useless now, she died before we could even get to her." she shrugs. That is literally no information at all but it explains a few things, like how Ash and I are not dead yet.

"Who's we?" I ask the smile never leaving my lips.

"That is for me to know and for you to spend sleepless nights on." She winks this time and looks away, staring right back at the moon. I wonder what secrets she hides and if I will be able to figure them out someday.

The sun slowly raises from behind us as usual as it does everyday. It's weird. Something this familiar can not happen when my whole world has collapsed from the core. But it does. Where is Ashton when I need her?